On anniversary of start of Hezbollah attacks on Israel, UN officials call for diplomatic solution
The UN special coordinator for Lebanon and the head of the peacekeeping force deployed along the border with Israel say that a negotiated solution is the only way to restore stability and the time to act is now.
The statement by Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro of the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL comes on the first anniversary of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group starting attacks on Israeli towns and military posts, in what it said was a show of support for its Hamas terror allies in the Gaza Strip.
Over the past weeks, the exchanges along the border have expanded into Israeli airstrikes and Hezbollah missile attacks that are hitting deeper inside both countries.
Plasschaert and Lázaro says Hezbollah’s attacks starting on Oct. 8, 2023 were in violation of the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 34-day Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.
The attacks mean that some 60,000 residents of Israel’s northern border towns were evacuated and have been unable to return home for a year.
“Too many lives have been lost, uprooted, and devastated, while civilians on both sides of the Blue Line are left wanting for security and stability,” the statement says referring to the border line.
“Today, one year later, the near-daily exchanges of fire have escalated into a relentless military campaign whose humanitarian impact is nothing short of catastrophic,” the statement says.
It warns that further that further violence and destruction will neither solve the underlying issues nor make anyone safer in the long run.
“A negotiated solution is the only pathway to restore the security and stability that civilians on both sides so desperately want and deserve,” the statement says. “The time to act accordingly is now.”